My former employer's IT department implemented a selection for power users to choose all three levels of licensing. It was accessed via the start menu and desktop shortcuts. Non power users did not have the option to choose ArcInfo but may have had the option to use ArcView or ArcEditor. All licenses were on a dedicated GIS server and was a floating license for unlimited users. So it depends on how your IT department has things set up. The other option is to find a machine to install again and simply install ArcView license.
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danagerousJan 20 '14 at 20:39

5 Answers
5

If this will be a recurring effort where you need to test your products at various license levels, it might be worth purchasing an Esri Developer Network license.

Esri Developer Network (EDN) is available through an annual
subscription and provides a cost-effective way to license Esri ArcGIS
products and tools. Whether you're a Web, desktop, mobile, or server
developer, EDN has the resources you need for building GIS
applications and solutions.

Do you have more information about that? Specifically, I would be interested to know if I would need to buy one license for each license level that I want to test scripts on? For now we found a computer that we can install an ArcGIS Standard License on to test this script.
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KatJan 21 '14 at 15:35

You should contact your local ESRI rep for details.
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RyanDaltonJan 21 '14 at 16:07

Edit bugfix: previous example of bare do-stuff.py in line 2 would not work, as it invokes the ASSOC commandline, with a new default environment that inherit the setting from line 1.
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matt wilkieJan 13 at 23:11

I don't think the functionality to run a lower license option exists yet, though it has been a suggested Idea to implement. you could find a computer without ArcGIS installed and get a trial version. either that, or maybe someone on here running a standard license could test it for you.

I think this needs a new ArcGIS Idea because the one you referenced does not seem to address the use case of the Question where the only ArcGIS for Desktop level licensed is Advanced but testing is wanted to happen while masquerading as a Basic and/or Standard level license.
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PolyGeo♦Jan 22 '14 at 0:38

See the help doc at Accessing licenses and extensions in Python. It is not 100% clear to me that this will do what you want but maybe try a script where you know it should only work with Advanced and see what the script does.

@RyanDalton: I just tested using 'Identity (Analysis)' in a gp script (which requires Advanced license). I get 'ERROR 000824: The tool is not licensed.' if using 'import arceditor' but it runs if using 'import arcinfo'. Your answer using is using setProduct(), which is 'a legacy function' maybe the import syntax works differently. Or am I missing something regarding this question?
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dark faderJan 21 '14 at 17:35

2

You missed the point of my answer. As I stated: "you are not able to "upgrade" or "downgrade" to a different license which is unavailable to the user without getting a failure." To summarize what I tried to explain, you cannot "dumb down" (or "up") a license unless you actually HAVE a lower license available, which is exactly what your test proved out. Neither import <license> nor gp.setProduct() allows users to use a product level that is not licensed.
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RyanDaltonJan 21 '14 at 22:08